From US190+ per night
– Great location close to eating, shopping and transport
– The main pool is not particularly pretty (the one next to the spa is great)
The Ritz Carlton is one of those hotels that gets almost everything just right. From the fantastic location just steps from the shopping and eating delights of Bukit Bintang to the attentiveness of the staff, it makes life easy for guests. A hotel which does that is just the place I want to lay my head at night.
Our premier suite was spacious and very comfortable with views over the swimming pool. Not only was the bedroom roomy and well appointed with a big walk in wardrobe and dressing area but the separate sitting room was large with plenty of room to spread out and relax. The butler managed to be attentive without being intrusive which is not an easy balancing act. All the other staff we encountered were equally friendly and welcoming.
We dined one evening at the hotel’s Cantonese fine dining restaurant, Li Yen, and I can say without shadow of a doubt that the six course meal there was the best Chinese meal I have ever eaten. Likewise the food at breakfast was imaginative (porridge bento box anybody?) and high quality with a cold buffet and hot items cooked to order off the menu.
After being steamed, stroked and scrubbed in a three hour couples’ spa treatment we were left alone to enjoy a private, outdoor rose milk bath. The bath was really more like a rose petal-strewn small plunge pool and we sank into it, sipping the spa’s strong, delicious ginger tea. Sheer bliss.
The hotel has an excellent gym which is a stroke of luck because they also have a very talented pastry chef whose irresistible cakes made afternoon tea and welcome cakes in the suite a real treat.
President Obama and 700 of his closest friends stayed at the Ritz Carlton a few days before our visit. All I can say is that the President has excellent taste.
